The Age of Aquarius - Signs and Signals

by Robert Wilkinson

Today's article arises from a fragment of a comment stream where I stated "Neptune is now embedding into collective consciousness what was awakened when Uranus transited those points (in Aquarius). When Pluto eventually crosses those same points, it will awaken the seeds of the Aquarian era. It'll look much different than most 20th century thinkers suspect. Thank God for time." We have had momentous activity in Aquarius as a prelude to the next Great Age of 2100+ years, with more to come.

This will not be an exhaustive study of the implications of "the Age of Aquarius," since the subject and dialogue would easily take up the rest of our lives. That said, we will be discussing the end of this era and the advent of the next one from time to time. I suppose we should start by remembering that a Great Age, being 2100+ years, yields about 72 years per degree in a Great Age, so our sense of time, and how fast/slow things develop, must be kept in mind. To understand a Great Age requires a much larger perspective than we are accustomed to, and may necessitate more patience with the larger process than what is usually demanded of us.

I know it is very human to want to believe "the Age of Aquarius will begin on December 12, 2012, and from then on it's all good" or some variation of that. The problem is that life usually does not proceed like a Hollywood movie, with everything occurring in definite measurable steps and a point where the hero wins the day and the evil-doers are vanquished. The evolution of an Age is more like the movement of a glacier, with very gradual shifts that may not be noticed for decades. Of course, using that metaphor is fraught with potential implications right now, given the rapid melting of glacier ice in both North and South polar regions. Things are shifting rapidly on our Earth, which we are told is a portent of larger shifts in the human condition.

Shifts in a Great Age also correspond with shifts in worldly power structures, economies, and belief systems. However, as prelude to any new forms presenting themselves and being widely accepted, there must first be relative chaos and the dis-integration of old forms, since an old order is never open to a new order that can supercede it. We also are told that humanity must have reached a state of tension, of yearning for something new that will satisfy basic human needs that are not being addressed by the old systems. It is fairly easy to see that we are rapidly approaching that state in the world today.

I believe we are still at the end of the old Age of Pisces, which means that we are somewhere in the first part of that sign, since the precession moves backwards through the signs from 30 degrees to 1 degree before moving into the next sign. If we conservatively estimate that the first 5 degrees of a sign and the last 5 degrees of the preceding sign represent a transition period, then if each degree equals approximately 72 years, then we're looking at a transition period of about 720 years. Even if we shorten the transition to 2 1/2 degrees exiting and entering signs, we're still looking at about 360 years of transition.

I also believe we began to move into the transition zone leading us out of the Age of Pisces about 220 years ago, around the time of Uranus' discovery, the American and French Revolutions, and the end of the "divine right" of kings, queens, and the priesthood that allowed them to believe they were better than the rest of humanity. And yes, we are still dealing with that to some extent. To me that just shows we have not yet left the Piscean era with its ghosts of "belief versus doubt," and the need for the mass of people to follow rather than cooperate as Aquarian equals.

If my own computations are correct, we will be slipping into the Age of Aquarius sometime in the third quarter of this century. That does not mean there will not be signs up to then; in fact, everything that we confront in the near and distant future will aid the coming of the next era, and will show us the transitional forms that will be the preliminary building blocks for life in the next era. So how can we take advantage of what is, and is yet to come, so that we move into our higher possibilities both individually and collectively?

This is where "past is prologue" to the future. Uranus transitted Aquarius between April 1995 and December 2003. Uranus awakened the Aquarius in us all in that span, and each had their opportunities to individuate and find their unique talents and place in the worldly drama we call life. Any planets we have in Aquarius were revolutionized and individualized in that span, and no doubt if it happened to you, you're living a radically different life in that area than you were before 1995. It was a time of many opportunities to practice the Aquarian ideal, to ground Spirit in matter in our own unique way so we can do it more perfectly in the future.

Since Aquarius exteriorizes through Leo, its polar opposite, this period would have offered many opportunities to demonstrate a sense of purposeful creativity and genuine, spontaneous sincere engaged Love in every life approach, these being Leo qualities. We all had the Aquarian ideal awakened in some way, and collectively, it is easy to see we are in a completely unique "unknown zone" as a human race. As an aside, with Saturn in Leo, and Saturn symbolizing our "Great Work," we are now seeing new forms and structures resulting from what was awakened when Uranus transitted Aquarius. In that sense, what dominion you can see and exercise in your life is showing how you rose to the challenge of individuation in those years, and what oppresses you is showing you what disciplines of Aquarian realization you are still learning to live.

I'll comment more about the Neptune and Pluto transits in Aquarius tomorrow, and how we are holographically molding the collective future even as we dream.

Comments

Am not sure I understand any of what you wrote, at least not in context of what I value....so could you please just tell me in plain-english whether or not I'll still be able to fill up my Hummer for $2.50 a gallon?

Well, given the inevitable breakdown of the lines of supply (being controlled by the existing power structures) I would suggest most who own Hummers will soon have the world's biggest and most ironclad flower boxes. ;-) As for $2.50 a gallon, I see you must have just awakened from a looooong sleep, my man. Those numbers are in the rearview, maybe forever. And Big Hal? Well, I suppose as long as they ARE the 50,000 pound gorilla that demands to be fed regularly, we're sorta-kinda stuck with them getting the gold mine while we get the shaft. (For those who wander into this thread, Caleb is a dear friend who doesn't mind asking the hard questions that ground my answers. And no, he doesn't have a Hummer, or Big Hal stock. I doubt many of my readers do.)

Yeah Robert, good thing that you disclaimed that post- it upset me just reading it! It's the exact divide line debate in our country currently and my Scorpio' self cannot help but to think 'pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.' Whatever the Age of Aquarius exact time is less relevant when set against the message of hope I get from it. In the grand scheme (no not 'V for Vendetta' or movies) what exactly should be Mars ruled signs? I know I know..Scorps sit in the quagmire of violence and dark doings until 'smashing apart' the old to reveal the new. But what does a warrior do when given a blunt blade to battle with? I know I know..become the Eagle and lend his eyes to the masses...onto the phoenix that dives into the fire and rise out of the ashes.
Anyway I was born into Saturn and I've felt like a total maniac lately. Everyday a battle to figure out some lesson that I've learned already. How long can the collective remain the 'Borg?' You guys sound like you would like the ideas behind Complex equality or Value Pluralism. Actually Robert you have probably either lived or read it. Check out Micheal Walzer or Asadair Macintyre work- it offers some seeming plausible paths towards equality and the symptoms of collective unpreparedness. I feel like since Aristotle we have been replaying the same scripts with the same actors. Something has got to give, my nerves are totally shot in this environment that we live in. I can't watch the news anymore, so I don't. But it is really alarming- the state of things- when I've had two professors of completely different fields express their real concern for the shape of things. Two courses I'm taking to finish up my degree currently are electives. My philosophy 'recent theory' professor (another libra- I surround myself with them) who doesn't express anything personal- ever- was on the verge of tears in lecture the other day while conveying his concern with the technology jobs that didn't replenish manufacturing over the years- onto giving us 2 pages of stats. (they never lie) showing horrifyingly real job depletion's trending in U.S private sector. My favorite psych professor expressed very similar thinking but in the social psychology context. All the while a had a crazy high-energy/eventful/fun day with my sunny sagg girlfriend, but both of us couldn't help but notice our super high energy. Also people were all over each other on the road today. It felt like road-rage was the collective action of some horrific nightmare. Her and I are supposed to be feuding but actually we have been (as she pulls me around trotting from one place to the next) observing a real unsettling environment in-general, the thing is she usually lets me talk vent my crazy scorp language but I was taken back when she came to me expressing that she felt the unease of the environment in simply running an errand! I swear I didn't implant that in her head cuz the entire day was amazing and so much fun! I don't know, I need to learn to stop filtering and feeling the collective unrest or care less or something. Hope my incessant streaming is completely self-centered but know one conveys sentiment quite wholeheartedly as us 'truth-seeing' Scorpios, unless we are having Uranus-Neptune illusions at the moment, lol.
Don.

Yup,
Last thought for the night. In 95', than 1999-03' I realized my talents for writing while at the same time my younger sister (Aquarius) helped me craft and embrace my odd-ball thinking and translate it into writing/public speaking. With Chiron in the 3rd House (speach impediment) and my Genius sister (136 I.Q I think) helped me realize to the healed wound as a major lesson I learned. Since those years I have horded every resource possible to craft my words, timing and articulation in public speaking, and to focus on the area's of study to keep expanding upon. Those we very difficult times where-in I felt isolated from others kids. All of that has crafted me, as I continue to challenge myself ever single day to learn more and more, to perfect and work, until it becomes a greatness from a hardship.
That is the Nodes for me.

We're all preparing for a future life with every breath we take. As we shape our actions, thoughts, and feelings now, we create patterns that will be encouraged/challenged in the future, and we will select, again and again, different responses and all will contribute to our spiritual hologram. That is why focus rather than diffusion, concentration of intention rather than aimless wandering, will show us the patterns we should develop for future use in productive ways. And there are different lives even as we occupy this body, or another.

Sorry crap did I do something stupid? I'm unaware of some of the dumb things I do and trust my fellows way too much, almost blindly. I hope I didn't foul anything up!
Aside from that, anyone dream of either George Harrison or loved ones going on voyages last night? I woke up this morning and had an urge to listen to some Beatles, headed over to my C.D collection and then the my alarm clock went off (radio mode) and "my sweet lord" by George was playing! Not a spooky coincidence, just the type that I experience almost daily.
Don.

Hi Barbara - We are told in esoteric history that with the shift of each Root Race (as they are called), there are accompanying Earth changes. It doesn't happen every 2100 years, or we would have a record of changes in biblical times. Supposedly the last major Earth upheaval occurred when Atlantis went down, though I suppose the flood of biblical lore may have represented an Earth change affecting the Mediterranean region.

That said, I do believe, as I outline in many posts over at Political Physics, that we've set an environmental trainwreck into motion involving polar ice melt, as well as global glacier melt. And if any number of possible scenarios occur, we could have an "Ice Age" in some areas of the world while having unbelievable heat and no rain in others.

When the present transitional era is over, oil will be obsolete, we will be living in far greater harmony with nature and each other, and humanity will be far more aware of its divine state than it is today. There will be widespread wreckage as the old exploitive, polluting ways grind to their ugly end, but the future of humanity is brighter than most suspect! It is our job to live our integrity, and bring the best forward as seed carriers, renovators, and bridge builders in our own unique way. And truly, we are on the path of return, and will never return to the collective ignorance and suffering we've been enduring for several thousand years. We're already moving into the remembrance of our electro-magnetic reality and its qualities, and will only become more aware from here, ending old superstitions about Earth, God, Life, and each other. The world of 2025 will be much different than the world of today. So take heart, and learn as much as you can to join with others of like mind and heart to build the better future as the old ways end.

I was thinking of CSNY - "Wooden ships on the water, very free & easy..."

In seriousness, the ensuing "Aquarian Age" sounds idyllic and I want to be part of making it happen. What concerns me is the period between now and then. Can one get to the phoenix rising before the barn has burned to the ground? Can we turn it around? (I'm mixing metaphors horribly - sheesh, sorry!). What can an individual do to make a difference in what appear to be tenuous (at best) times?

ONE-DIMENSIONAL MAN, Herbert Marcuse~
"Truth and Falsehood of needs disignate objective conditions to the extent to which the universal satisfaction of vital needs and, beyond it, the progressive alleviation of toil and poverty, are universally valid standards. But as historical standards, they do not only vary according to area and stage of development, they also can be defined only in (greater or lesser) contradiction to the prevailing ones. What tribunal can possibly claim the authority of decision?....The question of what are true and false needs must be answered by the individuals themselves, but only in the last analysis; that is, if and when they are free to give their own answer. As long as they are kept incapable of being autonomous, as long as they are indoctrinated and manipulated (down to their very instincts), their answer to this question cannot be taken as their own. By the same token, however, no tribunal can justly arrogate to itself the right to decide which needs should be developed and satisfied. Any such tribunal is reprehensible, although our revulsion does not do away with the question: how can the people who have been the object of effective and productive domination by themselves create the conditions of freedom?" Answer that question in any socio-political, cultural or gender context, and we will begin to take the reigns ourselves.
Don~

Don, Gene Roddenberry was closer than people think, but still framed everything in Earth-referenced dualisms. Other sentient beings may not be so influenced by bagism. Without getting into Marcuse, since that is waaay off topic, I can state from direct experience that there are powers latent in the human being that are beyond domination by others, and lay dormant until the personality awakens to its Mystery. Then ego and the Self do a dance, ultimately leading to the complete liberation of the individual from all forms of earthly authority and belief systems. It has been demonstrated that there is only one game in town, that of Self-realization, leading to complete liberation of the consciousness from the body while fully aware of things most of us could never imagine in a thousand lifetimes. The conditions of freedom are inherent in our evolutionary system; we just need to position ourselves accordingly and then practice until we are that which we have always been but forgot because distracted by the body, emotions, and mind. Consciousness is everything, and growth is eternal and infinite. The Earth is but one system in a magnificent multifaceted reality of simultaneously occuring dimensions of pure light-life-love beyond human philosophical constructs.

The Political Physics thread is extremely enlightening and helpfull for me, as it adds another dimension to my studies. Great posts! I sincerely hope that this isn't off topic- but the 'Darren Daulton' (former philadelphia phillies) articles and news peice's on him- any info if it's relevant? I beleive he has been referancing 2012 and the Age, possibly innapropriately. I searched your archives, I'll keep searching.
Thanx,
Don.

Wow - while trying to read Marcuse stopped me in my tracks (I'll have to turn in my Sun & Venus in the 9th Philosopher's Club card I guess) I want to add that I was being an indulgent Pluto in Leo Baby Boomer by putting the snippet of CSNY in without further explanation (all of you know MY music, yes?). The wooden ships refers to a shared (I believe) apocalyptic vision that we had in 1969 (when the album on which it is came out). My recollection of the zeitgeist during those heady times was that we thought the Youthquake Revolution was imminent, that we were soon to be in charge --- OR that the apocalypse was around the corner. My merry band of hippies had "back to the land" plans & aspirations (though as the daughter of a man who grew up on subsitence-level farm I think I really got it that this was not the idyll my friends envisioned). I believe Kent State ended all our peace/love/idyllic-ness. For me, there was a sense of having to grow up (Saturn return?) when the Vietname war finally ended. It was like our exhausted selves finally showed up - but in my opinion, we then gave up.

What does that have to do with this thread - to quote CSNY again "We have all been here before" and since past is prologue to the future, I'm interested in the larger energies afoot then & now. So I may yank out my ephemerides & look at outer planet activity. or rereard Robert's stunning analyses. I find this blog so rich that I have to take it in digestible chunks & go back and reread. As an astrologer myself of 30+ years it's refreshing to find someone so erudite & still readable (and interesting). Thank you Robert for my "daily treat" (checking in here). Now off to meditate!

It is 'Wooden Ships'? Hi Diane this is Don, I just would like to know since you said that you lived through that time, does it particularly feel now anything like it did then? Your post has taken me to really pay clear attention to some passed saturn returns, indeed was there a saturn return going on around the Kent State/events/time? Also I apologize if the Marcuse post distracted from studies as Robert aptly put it it is off course. I posted it (in hindsite) hoping that it had some possible similiarity with the astrological studies. Robert's post about Gene Roddenbury really set a good marker for thinking, relating to a more tertiary view of astro-dimension for me. Hope that others may take away the same, sincerely. Off to meditate myself!
Have a wonderful day all!
Don.

Wasn't it Buddha who said you can never step into the same river twice? and Bob Dylan who said "ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now..." So I guess to answer your question - don't know what the 21 year old Diane would think about this time and the 57 year old Diane can't go back to 1970 and be this me back then - so even on a personal level it's hard to say. What I would say is that the cultural zeitgeist then had the "pig in the python" Baby Boomer huge wave of energy which, then, was fueled by the passions (and hormones) of youth - it felt, even in the darkness, more exuberant and in some funny way both hopeful & doomed - ah the extremes of youth. For me now if I rely only on my more pragmatic self it sure looks like we're heading in the wrong direction. But if I tune in to my spiritual side i can see signs of awakening in myself and others.

A thought provoking question - I actually read your question this morning & have pondered it during the day. I hang out on Thursday nights with a dear friend & her husband and her 3 year old and 11 month old boys, to whom I'm quite attached. So I feel very personally invested in all of us 'getting it right' so my little guys have a good world to grow into.

Hello - Unfortunately, what we're experiencing now has little correlation with the heady era of the 60s and early 70s, except for this particular year of the Fire Dog. What had begun with a huge stellium in Leo in the mid-50s exploded into the civil rights and free speech movements by 1961, and culminated in the "Summer of Love" in 1967. After that it disintegrated into an expectation of revolution, and so of us believed at the time the simply through meditation we could end the war and make the Pentagon levitate. Though it is theoretically possible, I'm afraid most of us were not trained to the degree that would take.

Don, a true Saturn Return only occurs at a point between 28 and 30 years old, and again 57-59. Though Saturn can touch any planet in the sign it's in, a true Saturn return is unique to an individual, though it happens to us all. Saturn simply shows how and when we will have to grow up and mature into our true selves, away from our acculturated unconscious identities.

Marcuse wasn't off topic, but any discussion of philosophers must be superficial since this is a comment stream of an astrology blog. (I'm not even sure he had anything to do with the craft!) That said, so far this is an interesting discussion, even if I'm not sure where it's going!

"The Pentagon Levitate", lol, I really laughed deeply! If it wasn't a joke please please forgive me, I'm young and 2D doesn't convey body language? Robert thank you for clarifying my S-return post. Diane the "you then and now," "Zietgiest," and "Buddha" so helpful I'd eat up too much space conveying my thanks, thank you!
Concerning the Age: Robert you wrote in your article "we began to move into the transition zone leading us out of the Age of Pisces about 220 years ago, around the time of Uranus' discovery,"
Was "Beleif and Doubt"...would it be particularly beneficial for me/any to take a closer look at Einstein's chart? Also did he have maybe an ushering effect as one individual- Piscean to Aquarian- for us?
Have a wonderful and relaxing day all!
Sincerely,
Don.

In hindsite it does sound like a joke, but what did we know? We were young, optimistic, and probably somewhat magical in our thinking, not a bad thing but it created a lot of disillusionment when we weren't as effective as we would have liked. That said, we DID end the war and got rid of Nixon, but then inherited Reagan and Bush1, leading to the current mess.

I did a delineation of Einstein's chart a few years ago. It was the cover article in "American Astrology" back in January 2001. I'll see if I can dig it up and post it as an article next week. Einstein did usher in the quantum era, which put the Newtonian-Cartesian reality model on the shelf.

I believe the Aquarian Age will be exemplified in group-cooperation and synergistic interactions. Perhaps Buckminster Fuller, Gandhi, and Bono might be better representatives of the seeds of the coming era than Einstein, even though none of these were born under Aquarius. And it could be useful to remember that Lincoln and FDR were both Aquarians. So were Bob Marley and Reagan. Imagine the best of all of these, in a collective form.

You know, I've thought lately that the whole "levitating the Pentagon" might have been more of a turning point than I earlier realized. Though I took it seriously enough at the time, with the optimism & nonchalance of youth the apparent 'failure' was quickly forgotten.

Or was it? I wonder if that's when our magical mystery tour reallly ended - the magic part of it.

It's only in the last several years that my youthful interest in both metaphysics & mysticims has ramped up again. I never gave up on astrology once i discovered it. I had grown up with an Irish Catholic mom, scorp with scorp rising - a mystic as I now realize, though with a veneer of Catholicism poured on top of that Irish Goddess-worshipping mysticism. So my childhood had a large dose of the magical, then my wild & feckless youth was quite imbued with it. In that backdrop the thought that a bunch of hippies could use meditation to levitate the Pentagon just made sense to me! But before you know it I was a computer programmer and the Queen of the Left Brain. Hmm. What year was that, I wonder - I'll have to Google "levitating the Pentagon" and see what I come up with.

Military police keep back Vietnam War protesters during their sit-in on October 21, 1967, at the mall entrance to the Pentagon.During the late 1960s the Pentagon became a focus for peace protests against the Vietnam War. In one of the better known incidents, on October 21, 1967, some 35,000 anti-war protesters organised by the Youth International Party, or "Yippies," gathered for a demonstration at the Defense Department (the "March on the Pentagon"), where they were confronted by some 2500 armed soldiers. Various peaceful protests ensued that subsequently typified "flower child" behavior in the eye of the public. The Yippie leader, Abbie Hoffman, subsequently declared their intention of levitating the Pentagon 300 feet by means of meditation, wobbling it once in mid-air in order to exorcise evil spirits. Several Yippie members maintain to this day that they were briefly successful in this endeavor.

Ah, I see, I can't post a chart here - well, nothing pops out at me. Uranus was still sorta conjunct Pluto - a signature of that time. Mercury was conjunct neptune- there's some 'magical thinking for you'. Jupiter had just gone into Virgo. I'll leave it to Robert or better astrologers than I, but that neptune/Merc is as close as a signture for that event as I can see.

And on a separate from this, but related to this thread (as disparate as it all is!) - I'd LOVE to see your delineation of Einstein's chart, Robert. And would love hearing your two cents about him.

Thanks for the information! It was really helpful to better my understanding of... the nodes.

As SN-12th house-Scorpio and NN-6th house-Taurus, I'm slowly realizing that I depend on others' values over my own, simply because I don't really know what my values are. Furthermore, I find myself messing up the details because I am so horrible at them, while my mind is full of the "big picture". I don't think it helps that I am an MBTI type INTJ, which only exacerbates the very thing which I need to do, which is focusing on details, and I'm assuming, details of the simplicities of life...? I think it's more difficult for me especially because my SN is where my moon, pluto, ascendant, and mars also reside (although divided between the 12th and the 1st house)... and the energy is clearly very focused there as opposed to my NN where there is nothing but the NN.

But what I have noticed is that when I focus on the scorpio tendencies, of the jealousies, death, regeneration, whatever, it's certainly easy to do, but at the end of the day, I find myself emptier and more depressed about it. When I accomplish something and put my thoughts "out of my mind" (which is rather hard since all of my planets are located on the bottom half of my chart except for the moon and the pluto in 12th house), I am able to feel happier.

Hi Jin - Not sure why you posted your reflections on the Nodes here. With NN in Taurus in the 6th, go for the simple joys of service. Stop overcomplexifying things, and learn how to detach and let go more easily.

If Astrology is such an exact science, why is there such a variance in the different articles concerning when the 'age of Aquarius' actually begins?
Some say 2000, others say somewhere between 2060 and 2100

Hi Merlin - While some things are very precise, such as the exact angles formed between celestial bodies, other things (especially on the macro level) are "best guesses" due to a lack of ability to precisely measure them. The precession of the Equinox is one such thing, since no one on Earth knows exactly when the zodiac and the constellations were perfectly aligned.

As I noted in the article, since a Great Age is over 2100 years, and we don't know when the last one began, it makes knowing this change difficult. Since every degree of a Great Age is about 72 years, and there are transition zones between signs that span centuries, there is no such thing as an exact moment (or even year) when the Age changes.

I've always been one to observe the appearances of our collective reality to form my opinion about such things. We certainly CANNOT be in the New Age yet, due to the widespread belief in saviors of all stripes (economic, religious, military, scientific, philosophical) which is a quality of the Age of Pisces. Yet we've already barely begun the Era of Electromagnetic Remembrance (Dwapara Yuga) and are just now collectively awakening to our global interdependence, which are qualities of the Age of Aquarius, though at present these are barely evident. A few progressives and heralds do not a New Age make.

My own calculations indicate we won't be firmly in the Age of Aquarius until the second half of this century, though we'll be rapidly approaching the threshold by 2025, marking the entry into the "Spring of the 21st Century." The seeds of the New Age will sprout as Pluto moves through Aquarius from 2024-2044, with Saturn bringing forth structures in 2050-2052. And though the Siderealists will take exception, even they must admit that by 2055 everything will be set in place and our long term future is underway.